These Are the Most Popular Anti-Racism Books at Libraries Across the Country Right Now

As communities across the country—and around the world—have come together to protest police brutality against Black people and the systematic racism that harms BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and support the Black Lives Matter movement, a new and much-needed emphasis has been placed on the importance of educating oneself on how to be anti-racist. Plenty of books about race and anti-racism books are being passed around, discussed, purchased, and read widely.

The rise in interest in these books is reflected in bookstore sales, bestseller lists, and now, even public library requests. OverDrive, a digital reading platform for libraries and schools and the creator of the Libby app, recently released data on the top ebooks and audiobooks being requested right now. Demand for popular anti-racism and social justice books has increased as much as 10 times what it was in the two weeks before May 26, and overall circulation for the category has increased about 297 percent.

OverDrive’s report offered more than just data on how interest had spiked in these books: It also released a list of the trending anti-racism books and audiobooks requested digitally through OverDrive’s system.

Trending anti-racism books at public libraries

• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom
• New Kid by Jerry Craft

If you’re looking to further educate yourself or just read more about the black experience in the United States, there are many, many places to start—but one of these trending anti-racism books might be one of the best reads for you right now. If anything, this list will tell you what the people around you are likely reading, so you can catch up in time for your next opportunity to talk books with someone at the park or someone’s backyard party.

The Libby app by OverDrive is available from approximately 90 percent of public libraries in North America, so you can request your anti-racism books of choice directly through the app (with a valid library card) and have them delivered to your smartphone, tablet, or e-reader. Brick-and-mortar libraries may still be closed because of the coronavirus crisis, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still expand your reading list now.